Ten members or associates of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua have been indicted on charges of running a gun trafficking scheme in New York City that stretched across the country and aspired to spread internationally, officials said Wednesday.
The indictments, announced by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, came after a more than 8-month undercover operation by the district attorney's office, New York City police and other law enforcement agencies. Six of the people charged in the count indictment unsealed Wednesday were taken into custody Tuesday on firearm, drug and conspiracy charges. The Tren de Aragua gang has been linked to a series of kidnappings, extortion and other crimes throughout the Western Hemisphere tied to a mass exodus of migrants from Venezuela, where the gang originated more than a decade ago.
Public awareness of Tren de Aragua in the U. Members of the violent street gang have been blamed for sex trafficking, drug smuggling and police shootings across the U. Of those arrested in the Queens indictment, two were taken into custody in Texas and Florida. Four suspects were taken into custody in New York in an operation that left a city police officer with a severely fractured arm after a defendant slammed it with a door while trying to escape, officials said.
Two of those suspects had been arraigned as of Wednesday afternoon. Katz said charges had not yet been filed in the ongoing investigation into the assault on the officer. She praised those involved in the undercover operation for seizing guns and drugs. Two other suspects named in the indictment, including alleged ringleader year-old Enyerbert Blanco, were already in custody on other charges, officials said.
Two others remain at large. Authorities detailed in the indictment how the group used the telephone app WhatsApp to communicate about the gun sales, some of which happened in broad daylight in parking lots or by hiding weapons in trash bags.
